White House issues revised transcript to show Birx said sunlight not a treatment for coronavirus

Nicholas Wu / USA TODAY

Friday

Apr 24, 2020 at 10:20 AM

WASHINGTON – The White House Friday issued a revised transcript of Thursday's coronavirus task force news conference to clarify that Deborah Birx, a top adviser to President Donald Trump, said sunlight and heat were not treatments for the coronavirus.

The original transcript released Thursday evening suggested Birx said sunlight was an option for treating the virus.

Trump floated the idea in the Thursday news conference after touting a study from the Department of Homeland Security, and then asked Birx her opinion on the treatment.

Asked by a reporter whether it was "dangerous" to make people think it could be safe to go outside in heat and humidity, Trump asked Birx, "Have you ever heard of that? The heat and the light, relative to certain viruses, yes, but relative to this virus?"

Birx responded, "Not as a treatment. I mean, certainly fever ... is a good thing. When you have a fever, it helps your body respond."

Trump added, "I think it’s a great thing to look at. I mean, you know."

A transcript the White House released Thursday evening originally referenced Birx saying, "That is a treatment."

Corrected remarks sent out Friday morning changed that line to "not as a treatment."

Trump earlier highlighted a Department of Homeland Security study indicating sunlight and humidity could weaken the coronavirus, though a top official, Bill Bryan, an undersecretary of science and technology at the Department of Homeland Security, cautioned against changing behavior based on the study.

Bryan told reporters it would be "irresponsible for us to say that we feel that the summer is just going to totally kill the virus."

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